The Greater Houston Partnership and Good Reason Houston held a discussion moderated by Bob Harvey, CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, about public education and the upcoming 88th legislative session. Panelists included House Public Education Chairman Harold Dutton and Texas 2036 President & CEO Margaret Spellings.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
Alex Hales Elizondo, Good Reason Houston
- Are many education items on the docket this upcoming session
- 52% of students read at a proficient level at third grade; less for Hispanic and black students
- Texas ranks 33rd in the nation for fourth grade reading and 14th for fourth grade math
- Ranks 41st for eight grade reading and 25th for eighth grade math
- 5m students attend public school in Texas
- More teachers than ever are contemplating transitioning from the field
Bob Harvey, Greater Houston Partnership
- Last several years education conversation has been focused on directing funding to the right programs
Question and Answers
Q: Dutton is the longest tenured member of the public education committee; what is the top education priority this session?
- Dutton – Focus should be on changing reading scores for black and brown students in this state
- Dutton – Texas is looking at doing something like Mississippi; to leave 3rd grade, their students need to read on grade level
- Dutton – Need to improve student outcomes and improve teacher incomes
Q: Spellings, what are your thoughts on priorities?
- Spellings – Economic consequences of COVID learning loss; is a time of urgency
- Spellings – Reading and math skills are lagging behind other states; have a long way to go to fulfill the promise of HB 3
Q: Hear we need to do away with STAAR and have school ratings while others say need to add additional factors to the system; where should we be going concerning accountability?
- Spellings – No enterprise would manage itself without sets of measures like in the STAAR test; will continue to improve our assessment system over time
- Spellings – Additional measures that are highly variable will create a murky picture (like adding band, etc.); adding additional dimensions sets the stage for litigation
Q: Last session fought to maintain accountability system; Dutton what is your sense of this issue?
- Dutton – A lot of people who do not like the STAAR are not successful in administering/doing the test; in my opinion the legislature should not listen to these voices who want to completely do away with it
- Dutton – Cannot improve until you know where you are
Q: Morath has also noted the system is not perfect, but you do harm if you make changes to the system every session
- Spellings – It is not fair to educators either; is large support for a stable system
- Dutton – Cannot keep moving the goal posts
Q: What can be done about teacher shortages?
- Dutton – Testimony to the committee showed those alternatively certified are the ones who are leaving the profession
- Dutton – Need to make teacher incomes competitive; need to take a hard look at that as in the past have had gender pay discrimination as a majority of teachers/school personnel are women
Q: What is the education system doing to produce the workforce of the future? Changes needed?
- Spellings – Are falling short; employers are doing their own educating to fill that gap
- Spellings – Brand matters less than skill and the ability to evidence skill; will see more of this
- Spellings – Do not think we will be able to meet the need of the growing population with the same model; need a move to distributed models
Q: Not everyone needs to go to a four-year institution; economy depends on skillful young people
- Dutton and Spellings note that vocational paths should not have associated stigma as they are high-paying and stable jobs
Q: Find many schools have curriculum not where it should be; changes to quality curriculum and instructional materials next session?
- Dutton – Notes that teachers currently go out and search for their own lesson plans and curriculum
- Dutton – Currently only have to cover 50% of TEKS; that is one of the problems we will fix this upcoming session
Q: Legislature can mandate certain things and TEA will have to do something with that legislation; how would that unfold?
- Dutton – TEA will be fine; may have a little bit of a problem with the SBOE as they have a hand in this, but will have to have something that moves towards improving student outcomes
Q: One thing to pull from this discussion as the main priority this session?
- Spellings – Expectations for students need to be higher; when we get curriculum and assessment aligned, that will improve confidence in schools
- Spellings – Need to be steady on HB 3 implementation
- Dutton – COVID put a lot of students at the bottom rung of education
- Dutton – Every member has an idea of how to improve the education system and often these solutions have nothing to do with the problem
Q: Some of the arguments this session against the accountability system will be couched as improving accountability; how do we discern who is fighting for/against the accountability system?
Q: Morath notes the system has a yardstick and is designed to motivate to make system better
- Spellings – Accountability system is complex; need to continue working at it
- Spellings – Are those who want to throw in the towel for public education and just use a voucher; need to create confidence in the system
Q: Spellings noted that there are those who want to throw in the towel for public education; anything to add?
- Spellings – Need to be cautious and work with what we already have; looking forward to being critical partner in these upcoming discussions
- Dutton – Notes that when crime goes up, we do not get rid of the police